


Hunter

by gardnerhill



Category: Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV), Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Community: watsons_woes, M/M, POV Female Character, Prompt Fic, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-21 23:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardnerhill/pseuds/gardnerhill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That’s her name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hunter

**Author's Note:**

> For JWP 2013 Prompt # 30: **Mirror, Mirror:** Write a story from a minor character's point of view, where he or she sees something similar between him/herself and Sherlock Holmes.

I had heard of him, of course – all England has heard of him. Like everyone I have read Dr. Watson’s stories in the STRAND, and have also become an avid follower of crime reports in the papers as well as the _Police Gazette_.

Worried though I was about my potential situation, I was also glad of it, for I thought that surely it would prove unusual enough to merit his attention. (If I disguised my true regard for him by requesting his paternal advice to a fatherless young woman, who was harmed by such a slight deception?)

Just from reading the Doctor’s stories I could not help but notice our similarities; these similarities had tossed in my mind for a long time.

He is fond of German music and speaks the language, as well as French. He is a lover of music. He appreciates the arts.

What are the accomplishments I sell as a governess? French and German, music, drawing.

He favours uniqueness, and beauty.

My freckled face is no great beauty – but my single most beautiful attribute was my uniquely luxuriant chestnut hair. I have made up my mind to lop it off for this position and this money, I thought; therefore let it tumble into his hands but once, as a promise of what can regrow, and it is well-lost.

Any idiotic woman who wished to attract the attention of such a man would spend her savings on an elaborate _coiffure_ and a daring hat to draw his attention to her best physical feature. Most men can see better than they can think, after all, and when their eyes are full their minds will follow.

But I, like him, am no idiot. I, like him, am observant. I knew that an unusual puzzle would be meat and drink for such an intelligent and observant man; and he could not then help but think of me in the same breath as this puzzle – a fellow aesthete, linguist, and musician, who was still very much a woman. Engage his mind, and his eyes would follow.

He is no coward, and neither am I. I suffered the loathesome Rucastle child, the vicious mastiff, the sullen servants, and the terrifying master of the estate beyond a normal woman’s endurance before sending for him. The ending was horrific, and I shall never own a dog as long as I live; but he was satisfied with having reasoned out the problem. I was freed from the ghastly estate, and the only casualties were the horrid dog and my hair.

And what of my plans, my carefully laid enticements of mind and eyes for the most brilliant and unique man in London? Alas, they came to nought. Even a skilled hunter can lay a snare only to find the game has altered course in a way unpredicted.

For when his friend the Doctor ran right up to the vicious mastiff and shot it point-blank like a soldier taking a hill single-handed, the look of terror on his face was not for Mr. Rucastle writhing in the dog’s jaws, nor for my safety nor even his own – and his eyes and his first touch was for the Doctor, to ascertain his well-being, before helping carry Mr. Rucastle into the house. When the two men joined me in the trap back to the station, the Doctor was the soul of courtesy and warmth to me, but Mr. Holmes’ eyes were only for the Doctor. Only a very stupid woman indeed would not have read love in that gaze – or in the looks the Doctor returned.

He and I, also, share a deep and abiding attraction for men.


End file.
